


Cat days

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animal Transformation, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 01:58:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13824075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: Merlin changed back





	Cat days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LFB72](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LFB72/gifts).



> Since some of you wanted to know what happened after [Mow!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13818828) here a quick summary :)
> 
> Make sure to check out LFB72's original stories and art and the art she made for 'Mow!'

Merlin stretched when he woke up. Arthur’s bed was a lot more comfortable than all of his combined. Maybe, if he pretended to not be over whatever he had to be treated for, he was allowed to sleep here another night? He closed his eyes again, just enjoying the soft blanket and the pillow. 

There was movement behind him and all of a sudden, Arthur yelled out and jumped out of bed. “Who are you? What are you doing here? I’ll call the police!”

Merlin jumped up, too, to see what was going on but instead of landing on all four feet, he stumbled and fell. What was this? He looked like…a human! What happened? Confusedly, he looked at Arthur.

“How did you get in there? What did you do to Merlin?”

“Mo…” Merlin blinked when his voice didn’t do what he wanted it to do. He coughed. “I am Merlin,” he croaked out.

Arthur, who had wrapped the sheet of the bed around himself, stared. “Merlin is a cat, not a naked man. I’ve adopted him from the shelter.”

“I…I know.” For years, Merlin hadn’t worn clothes – aside from the red neckerchief Arthur bought him – but he felt exposed and naked now. 

“Who are you?” Arthur almost screamed.

“Merlin.” Merlin didn’t understand what was going on. He knew he was Merlin and Arthur was Arthur, but where had his paws and his tail gone to? Slowly, he sank to the floor, just sitting there and looking up at Arthur like he had done so often before. 

“How can you be Merlin? You are a person!”

“I don’t know.” Merlin noticed that his voice sounded a bit like purring, but when he tried, he couldn’t purr anymore. This was odd!

Arthur gave him a long look. “You do have his eyes…and your ears are still huge.” He carefully held a hand out. “And your hair looks like his…”

Merlin’s head moved on its own as it neared the extended hand to rub against it, but Arthur drew his hand back. 

“What happened?”

“Some kind of magic?” Merlin blinked. Where had that come from? 

Instead of answering, Arthur turn towards his closet and then threw some sweatpants and a hoodie at Merlin. “Here, put that on. You can’t be naked while we figure this out.”

Merlin didn’t know what had changed, but after he had mentioned magic, Arthur seemed to be willing to believe that it was really him. He scrambled into the clothes that were a bit too big for him. It felt weird. He hadn’t worn clothes in a long time. 

+++

After that morning, there had been a bit more weirdness when they tried to figure out what had happened. It took Merlin a while to remember that he had changed into a cat on purpose, all those years ago, after he’d lost Arthur. It was easier to survive in the woods if you could hunt that way and once in a while a nice human petted him or even took him in for a while. The burden of having failed his destiny, of having lost his best friend and partner, was a bit less difficult to face if you could just sleep in the sun all day and go hunting mice when your stomach grumbled at night. 

The more Merlin remembered, the more came back to Arthur. 

“But…couldn’t you just change back? If you were so powerful, then…why stay a cat and be locked up in the shelter?”

Merlin made a face one day over breakfast when Arthur asked that. “I just…kind of…forgot how to do it?” 

Arthur laughed. “Only you, Merlin, only you.”

+++

The more they remembered from their past life together, the more they were drawn to each other. In the beginning, Merlin had missed the pets and skritches, the cuddling in front of TV in the evening, but soon they snuggled up together under a blanket while watching a movie and that one night, they just kissed. 

Things had progressed from that point, their past crashing down on them, they both remembering everything and Merlin couldn’t help grinning for two days when they realised that they had gotten a second chance. A life without the burden of reuniting realms and battling away the bad guys. A life just for them. 

Sometimes, Arthur caught him licking the milk from a glass and Merlin still kept that blanket on the window sill. He still loved looking out in the garden, watching the little birds and the occasional rabbit that came by, but instead of sitting on the book shelf, he rather read the books now. That a low ‘mow’ escaped him once in a while usually went unnoticed. It was difficult, though, to not lick at his arms when something was itching and quite annoying that he couldn’t reach all of his body parts to lick anymore. 

He had hurt his ankle when he tried to jump down from a little wall he had climbed on for no apparent reason and Arthur had taken care of him. Which didn’t keep him from teasing him mercilessly about it, pondering to take him back to the vet instead of a physician. His days as a cat were over and Merlin slowly adapted. 

He still liked being touched by Arthur and didn’t mind at all that the touches became more than comforting once in a while. Arthur knew how to touch him, knew all the sensitive spots and he knew what it meant when Merlin just bumped his forehead into his arm when they were on the couch together. 

+++

When they were trying to catch their breaths, all sweaty and sated, Arthur chuckled. 

“What’s so funny?” Merlin, who had spooned up behind Arthur, nuzzled into his neck and couldn’t help but licking at the salty sweat once in a while. 

“I just thought…”

“Should I mark the calendar?”

“I just thought…I’m quite happy that I never got around to have you neutered.”

Arthur gave in to the giggle fit that took over while Merlin just growled.


End file.
